Damian and Helen Give an Update on Feed NHS Campaign!

So far, £1,217,605 (as of publishing this article) has been raised of the £2,000,000 target (60%).

Just launched on March 27, it took the coalition only 10 days to raise the first £1M. And now they want to do it again in order to expand nationwide.

For more information, visit their FeedNHS website here and to donate, please visit the JustGiving campaign here.

Here is a recent story Damian and Helen shared online:

“Hi, we’ve been raising as much money as we can to help feed NHS workers one healthy meal each day. We started in the hardest hit London hospitals and with the help of our coalition partners we’ve now taken it nationwide.

We had a target to raise 1 million pounds for our scheme and thanks to the public’s overwhelming generosity we’ve raised it. Thank you! But as more hospitals have heard about what we’re doing it’s become clear that we mustn’t stop. So our aim now is to raise 2 million (in total ) which will enable us to feed even more hospital workers across the nation. So if you can, and we know not everyone can, please donate. With you, we know we can make up the difference.

We’re Damian and Helen and like all the best things in life, this started with a chat to a friend.”

“The friend, Bob, a senior player in the NHS asked us, ‘In every meeting, all we talk about is how are we going to feed our staff? I don’t suppose you two could help?” We had no idea how, we knew nothing about the world of catering or NHS hospitals (a lot’s changed since then!) but nevertheless we did have the good sense to call John Vincent, the CEO of LEON. We told him our story. “l ’ve been looking to do something in that area and trying to figure out how. Let’s do it together! Can I introduce you to a friend…?” he said. Well that friend turned out to be none other than the comedy god himself, Matt Lucas. “I will write a song and all proceeds will go to your campaign!” he offered. And The Baked Potato song was born. And so together we set off on our mission to feed the NHS. First, by raising the money to feed some 20,000 staff in the Imperial and UCLH Hospital Trusts and then, we hoped, beyond …”

“Some of our front line workers are working in nonstop shifts in hot and exhausting PPE often unable to return home to family, but instead self-isolating in nearby accommodations and with cafes and restaurants closed there is nowhere for them to eat. At the moment we and our partners are together delivering 40,000 meals a day to 88 hospitals across the country but to continue, we need your money. Why? Because we’re a not for profit coalition. No one is making money from this. In fact, it’s you, YES YOU! that’s actually paying for these meals. You, the British public are feeding the Frontline and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

So, who is this coalition?

Leon and its CEO John Vincent led with the initiative for this whole campaign from the start. You MUST have had the delicious chicken aioli at least once.

Baxter Storey provides hospitality services to businesses across the UK . With a background of creating fresh, nutritious food its teams have been volunteering their time to work from specially opened kitchens across the UK. From making scones for paramedics in Newcastle to providing over 7,000 plant protein meals to London hospitals and producing 1,500 free meals a day to hospital staff across Edinburgh and the Lothians, they have ensured NHS staff and key workers have access to fresh food.

Mealforce is providing nutritious, fresh meals, daily, to NHS frontline workers through a coalition of organizations. Brilliantly, they have formed a partnership with Manchester United football club who are now providing 60,000 meals from their kitchens.

Feed Our Frontline is a coalition of UK restaurants and food providers who have joined forces to support the NHS during the coronavirus crisis. They provide delicious meals and produce to our heroic hospital staff, completely free of charge to the NHS. Their service runs on goodwill and essential costs, which are in turn covered by generous donations from you to the FeedNHS campaign.